Love, Hate, and Other Clichès
by RuRuRami
Summary: Neru and Len never thought that they'd end up in such a strange, unfortunate predicament. They never thought that such evil could possibly exist in their world. They never thought that people close to them would die. And they definitely never thought that they would fall for each other throughout the mix. Their lives are turned around in this story of love, hate, and other clichès.
1. The new kids

**AN: lol idk. T for language and stuff.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid or any of the characters involved in this story. **

* * *

**Len's POV**

I awoke to the loud, screaming alarm that is my sister.

"LEEEEEN! GET YOUR ASS UP! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOOOL!" Maybe if I ignored her, she'd go away and I'd get to sleep in. I hate school. It's the worst thing about being a kid. And it especially sucks if it's your first day. We'd just moved here since Dad got deported across the country. He and Rin seemed pretty happy about it, "Because it's a new, fresh start for us," he'd say. I didn't think of it that way. I thought of it as abandoning all of our friends and family. The worst part was leaving behind the memory of Mom. After she died, Dad had been looking to move, to get away from the depression.

"Okaay, well if your not gonna wake up to the glorious sound of my voice, then I'll just have to use drastic measures..." I heard Rin trail off as she left the room. Still ignoring her, I buried my head in my pillow and closed my eyes.

"Len, this is your last chance..." Rin waited a few seconds for my response.

"Okaaay, you asked for it!" She flung a bucket of ice-cold water, all over my body.

"RIN! What the hell?!" I shouted, shivering in my drenched clothes.

"It's your fault! You wouldn't get up! Now get dressed, we leave in like 10 minutes!" Ugh. The worst thing about school is getting ready for it. You have to wake up all gross and cranky and then you have to drag yourself to the bathroom to brush your teeth and whatnot, then you have to put on your clothes that you didn't prepare last night, then you have to finish the homework you should've done yesterday, then you have to get to the smelly bus that always comes late, then you have deal with the yelling and screaming of the other kids. It's a pain in the ass.

I hate school.

* * *

**Neru's POV**

"Ruuu-chaaan, it's time to get up..."

"Go away..."

"Bu-but Ru-chan, it's 7 already, you should really wake up..."

"IT'S SEVEN? WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP SOONER?!"

"W-well, because you said yesterday not to wake you up-"

"AND YOU LISTENED TO ME?! GOD, You're hopeless. Help me get my stuff ready." I ordered to my best friend Haku. You might be wondering why my best friend is waking me up for school. That's because she lives with us. You might be wondering why my best friend lives with us. That's because she ran away from her own home. You might be wondering why she ran away from her own home. It's because she had an abusive father. That's all I know. Whenever I try to ask Haku about it, she starts crying her eyes out. Anyways, we found her collasped in the woods behind our house (we live on the edge of the city) and let her stay with us for a few days. The days became weeks, and those weeks became months. Eventually, she became a part of the family.

"HAKU! HURRY UP AND GET DRESSED! AND BRING ME MY BOOK BAG!" I shouted from the bathroom on our floor, brushing my teeth as fast as possible. I saw Haku fully dressed by the door, waiting for me with both of our book bags, her's lavender and mine bright yellow. My little brother Nero was already outside, waiting for the bus.

"Neru?" Chimed the voice of my mother. She resembles me in many ways. Her eyes and hair are yellow like mine, and she's about my height, too. She styled her hair like Haku did though, minus the bow.

"Yeah Ma?"

"You girls didn't forget your lunches did you?

"No."

"And you've got everything in your backpack?"  
"Yeah."

"And you've got you're phone?"

"Of course I do."

"And did you bring your pads-"

"Mom!" I shouted, probably blushing. "It's not that time of the month yet.." I say a little quieter.

"It's just in case."

"..."

"Well, call me if anything happens, okay?"

"Yeah yeah, love ya Mom, bye." I kissed her on the cheek and Haku gave her a hug before we left for the bus.

* * *

We boarded the bus where all the little shits society called children these days shrieked and screamed their asses off. Haku and I sat in our usual seat, seat #25, which was always empty because no one wanted to sit in the cruddy back of the bus. Next to us was #26, and no one sat there. Nero was off sitting with his stupid little friends.

I whipped out my phone and texted like a madman to my only other friends Gumi and Teto. They take waaaaay too long to reply, by the way. Haku just stared out the window, as if she had never seen grass before. I noticed that we stopped at an unfamiliar stop about 7 houses away from mine. In walked two very similar looking people, one a boy and the other a girl. New kids? Pfffft, they'll never survive. This school works on a very high school-stereotypical social scale. There are the popular bitches and bastards at the top, like Miku and Kaito. Below them, everyone fit into an organized pack. There were the nerds, the bullies, the hippies, the idiots, the attention whores, the drug users, the sluts, the geniuses, and more. Haku and I didn't fit into any of them. We were part of the largest group of the school, the 'Nobody's.'

How cliché.

Within those groups everyone had their own pack of friends. The standard amount of friends you needed to have to not be considered a loser was 4. I had 3. Like I give a damn. Gumi and Teto have classes on the other side of the school, so I only get to see them during study hall. New kids are always the ones to be left out. You make your friends during the first few months of school, then you stick with them. It's gonna be tough for them if they don't fit in quickly.

Tch, not my problem.

Now, where are they going to sit? The seats are a primary component in making friends. There are only a few seats open. #3 was a bad choice, it was what we all knew of as the "Gum Disposal" seat. #12 was a trashy seat with fluff and springs flying out everywhere. #17 was the sticking post for those stupid nose pickers. That left the seat to my right, #26, which is...

Normal.

**Crap**. I do _NOT_ want those kids to sit right next to me. If they do, then they might become our friends. And if they became our friends, they'd draw in attention. And if they draw in attention, then I'll get noticed. I don't like being noticed, because I don't like having people watching me. It's uncomfortable.

_'Please don't sit here, please don't sit here, please don't sit here, please don't sit here,'_

"Hey, mind if we sit here?"

Dammit.

* * *

**Len's POV**

All of the open seats were terrible. Not just the actual seats, but the people around them. Freaks, all of 'em. I really don't want to have a bunch of weirdos for best friends. That'd be a horrible start to a new school alright, stuck with the wrong crowd.

Finally we made it to the back, and there was a normal looking seat available. Next to it were to girls, one with silvery-gray hair put into a long ponytail that extended to her knees, gazing out the window. The other was noticeably shorter with bright yellow hair, almost gold maybe. She had the had her hair done in a left side tail that grazed the floor. Her fingers were a blur as she tapped the buttons on the yellow phone at an incredible speed. They seemed...normalish.

"Hey, mind if we sit here?" Rin asked. We could, obviously, so why was Rin being so cordial?

Of course, she wanted to make friends, quick. I guess I can understand, I mean, who would want to be stuck sitting alone at lunch on their first day of school?

"Go ahead, it's open isn't it?" she replied, still not looking up from her phone. I can assume that she's arrogant with that response. Rin didn't want to give up, though. As we slid into the seat, me next to the window and Rin on the outside, she introduced us.

"Hi, I'm Rin Kagamine, and this is my little brother, Len!"

'_By a few minutes_...' I thought.

"What're your names?" The blonde girl didn't seem to realize Rin had spoken, so the other girl piped up.

"Well, I'm Haku Yowane, and this is my friend, Neru Akita...Ru-chan say Hello, you're being rude."

"Hello." Neru replied bluntly.

"LEN! Say 'hi' you asshole!" Rin whispered angrily in my ear.

"Hi." I greeted equally as dull as Neru. Rin and Haku chatted among themselves, sharing details about themselves that were in no way important.. If they became close, then I knew Rin would drag me into it. Ugh.

I pulled out my PSP from my bookbag and played it for the length of the bus ride. I couldn't help but steal glances at the blonde girl. Neru, her name was. She was...weird. Okay, not weird, but...different. Her hair looked like it had been done in 5 seconds, strands of it sticking out here and there. The shirt of her uniform was cut so that you could see her belly button, and she wore no makeup whatsoever. And underneath hear skirt (...not that I was looking) were shorts instead of underwear. Neru gave off that 'I don't care about anything,' look. like other people's opinions didn't matter.

I can respect that.

* * *

**AN: okay then.**


	2. Lunch is War

**AN: Please forgive me for the delay! It wasn't supposed to take this long, but my relatives came over and they kept me distracted ;n;**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid or any of the characters involved in this story. If I did, Neru would be a vocaloid. With a different design of course, because hers is too similar to Miku's.**

* * *

**Neru's POV**

Classes were boring as shit, so let's not get too in-depth with the details. First was home room, and those twins whose names I forget were both in my class (oh joy). Then I had english, and I got yelled at for not bringing my homework. After that I had history with Haku, followed by health with that twin with the bow in her hair (which by the way looks retarded) and science with that other twin. Next was lunch, my least favorite period of the day.

The cafeteria is a hell hole of hideous lunch ladies and children who most likely have rabies. It's pretty huge, with blue and white tiles that speckles the floor and white walls with vertical blue and white stripes that resemble caged doors (kind of _implying something_, don't you think?). You'd never guess that it was such a crappy school from the glorious exterior. The food is toxic. The smell is awful. The lunch moderators don't do shit about the abrupt food fights that start every 10 minutes. We're all left to fend for ourselves, like the wild animals we are.

'My' table was one of the few stable one's that don't have gum covering its entire surface. It's secluded in the farthest point away from the entrance .We know it'll always be open because 1., no one wants to have to walk 30 feet just to leave and enter the lunchroom, and 2., because it's fairly close to the table with those popular assholes I was telling you about.

I hate all of them. The table consists of 6 people. Lily is a snotty stuck up whore that walked like she had a pole shoved up her ass and probably lost her virginity when she was 12. Kaito is a wimp but they accept him because they think he's hot. Gakupo is a man-lady with a "Pretty Purple hair Pulled in a Ponytail". Luka has gigantic boobs plus she smart, so no wonder she's popular. Meiko, like Luka, has huge boobs, maybe even bigger, but she's really strong and tough. I want to fight her one day. Yuuma is actually kinda cool I guess. Plus he can fight as well, which is a bonus. And that leaves Miku, the most popular of them all. Miku is a self-proclaimed goddess with long teal pigtails and eyes to match. I hate her. No, I _despise_ her. Miku is the bitchiest bitch of all the bitches plus 2. And she loves to make my life 15-times more of a hell than it already is. Her family is loaded, so I'm pretty sure the only reason she goes to this crappy school is to abuse me. I get so tempted to just snap her leg in half, but that would definitely win over every eye in the school, a new reputation, grudges from those who actually liked her, and a suspension. I just can't afford so much trouble right now.

After, like, 10 minutes of walking and thinking to myself, I found my table. Haku's there of course...and so are those twins.

Ugh.

So they're really gonna stick to us, huh? I can't blame them. I mean, everyone in this school is an asshole. If you ask someone where the bathroom is, they'll tell you to go fuck yourself and die a slow and painful death. And sometimes the teachers, too. I know that from experience. It's hard to find someone as polite, smart, and cool as I am.

But one thing pissed me off. That blonde girl is sitting in my seat. Which is next to Haku. Now where the fuck am I supposed to sit? Our table is small, and there are only 4 seats. Then blonde guy was on the other side of his twin. There was a seat next to Haku left open, but that meant I'd have to sit next to him. And I don't like being around other people who I don't know.

Sighing, I relented and sat next to him. What was his name again? Lin or something? I can't just be all "Hey what's your name?" if they told me already. That'd be rude. Wait, why should I care if I sound rude? I don't give a shit about their opinion of me. I opened my mouth to say something, but Haku cut me off.

"Oh, Hey Ru-chan! You remember Rin and Len Kagamine right?"

Nevermind.

* * *

**Len's POV**

I was sitting at the lunch table with Rin and that other girl, Haku, who was actually pretty cool, compared to all the other bastards this school has to offer. My lunch consisted of a banana, a sandwich, a banana, a water bottle, and a banana. Rins' lunch was identical, subtract the banana's and replace them with oranges. While they were talking to eachother, I ignored everything they said and played my PSP.

After about 12 minutes of lunch, that girl Neru approached the table and sat with us. Right next to me.

I felt awkward.

I mean, I'd gotten to know Haku a little bit better, because she talked to me from time to time, but I don't know Neru at all besides her name. In all honesty, I think she's kinda full of herself. She ignores what presumably is her best friend, she texts on her phone all the time, and she doesn't even talk to us.

But what's bugging me is why I care. She's practically a stranger, yet I want her to talk to me. I'd approach her, but I'm not a conversation starter. According to Haku, she's a bit rude and blunt on the outside, but a really caring person on the inside.

I don't see it.

Two girls from the table 2 feet across from here stood up and walked (or rather, _strutted_) dramatically towards our table. One has loose blonde hair, and the other has bluish-green pigtails that extend to her ankles. She looked like Neru a little bit. What do they want with _us_? They don't look like they're coming over to discuss the weather. Haku looked a little worried but pretended that they weren't there. Neru seemed like she hadn't noticed.

"Hey Neru. How's you're day going?"The blue one sneered.

"Fuck off, Miku." Neru retorted, still not removing her eyes from her phone.

"Oh my, that's no way to talk to your cousin now is it?" Cousins? They're related? That explains the resemblence.

"Don't remind me. Why are you here again?"

"Oh, I just want to check up on my favorite _cousin_." Neru winced as she finished her sentence, as if being called her cousin was an insult.

"And lookie here, you've made friends with the new kids! Hey, this one's kinda cute..." She trailed off as she took a step towards me.

"Oh really? You're not." I didn't really have an opinion on her looks, but she's being a bitch. Miku seemed unfazed at the insult.

"Heh heh, what kind of things has Neru said about me? That's not fair Neru, I want to be friends with him too!"

"Go ahead, as long as I'm not involved." Wow, Neru really doesn't like me, does she?

"Okay then cutie, how about you come to our table? You'll like it better than this one!"

"How about no?" I could've sworn I saw her eye twitch. I'm scared a bit.

"Oh come ooooooooooon, our table is so much better with much nicer people!"

"Hey, he said _no_, so back o-" Neru began only to be violently interrupted.

"STAY OUT OF THIS NERU!" Miku screamed as she smacked her phone out of her hand. Haku looked extremely frightened all of a sudden.

Is it just me, or did the air suddenly just get much more tense?

* * *

**Haku's POV**

I watched as Neru's phone, as if in slow motion, dropped to the floor and banged against it repeatedly before coming to a stop.

She didn't just smack Neru's phone out of her hand, did she?

Oh dear...

Neru's phone is really precious to her. It means more than her life, and maybe even more. And Miku just smacked it out of her hand.

...Should I take the twins and run?

"The last time someone smacked Neru's phone, which was in 5th grade, a boy was put into the hospital for _2 years_. And she never apologized." I inform Len and Rin.

Neru instantly grabbed Miku by her collar and held her high above her head.

"_You. **Did Not**. Just Smack. My Phone_." Neru emitted a low growl. I _really_ think I should be leaving now.

"A-and what if I did?" Miku stuttered. Neru glared at her with blazing gold eyes, seething with rage.

"**Meet me. After school. 6 o'clock. School yard**."

"W-well, what if I don't?"

"Then I'll tell everyone the secret about your father."

"Y-you wouldn't! Then I'll just tell about yours t-"

"I don't care." Neru dropped Miku onto the floor. She and her blonde friend shied away.

"You better be there." Neru said with murderous edge as she stormed out of the lunch room.

_Oh dear_...

* * *

**AN: OK. **


	3. Clap hands, Open hands

**AN: Ha, I bet you guys weren't expecting to see this story pop up in your email ever again. But Snowleopard14, after seeing your review I was like, "omfk. i need to update this immediately." It really puts a smile on my face to see how devoted you are to this story, everyone else as well, and I should be too. My deepest apologies for the random hiatus! I'll try to start updating this regularly again. Also I made some revisions to the first and second chapter so maybe you'll want to read them again? **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid or any of the characters involved in this story.**

* * *

**Neru's POV**

Who does that little bitch think she is!? She thinks that she can just smack my phone-MY PHONE-out of my hand and get away with it?! Hell no! That bitch is dead! She's so fucking dead! I'll cut off her ears and shave all of her precious hair, then I'll slice her stupid head off and bury her in a pet cemetary! That snotty-stuck up whore! And if she broke the lens-_ohhhh,_ **_she's is dead!_** She's _**dead**__**er**__** than**__** dea**__**d**_! I'll fucking throw dog piss on her head and toss her into the god damn ocean! That little-

"Neru?" I whipped my head around to see who called my name and felt my seething rage simmer to a faint smile.

"Gumi?" I called and saw the lime green-haired girl walking towards me. Seeing Gumi always puts me in a good mood. She's so nice and is optimistic about everything. Which can get annoying sometimes, too.

"Neru! What are you doing here?"

"_Here?_" I look around and see that i've somehow wandered into Wing C's music room, which is the wing farthest away from the lunch room. "Oh."

The room is empty except for Gumi and two others, one a young boy with green hair like Gumi's and a girl with little black pigtails in a red dress. They're definitely not students here, they're too young.

"Ryuuto-kun! Yuki-chan! Try playing it again, but quieter, okay?" She asks the two kids politely.

"Okay, Gumi-neesama!" The green-haired one replies. Him and the girl start playing a chidlish tune on a piano together. 'Neesama'? I look to Gumi for an explanation. She's baffled.

"What?"

"Why is he calling you 'Neesama'?"

"Because Ryuuto is my little brother! I'm giving him and Yuki piano lessons. I thought I told you that already."

"You probably did, I just wasn't listening." She doesn't respond, and we just sit there listening to them play a song. It's very familiar.

"Again!" Gumi orders, and they start the song again. It's _very, very_ familiar. Nostalgic, even. When I realize, what it is, I start to sing along.

"_Close hands, open hands, clap hands, close hands. Open hands again, clap hands, put those hands up. Close hands, open hands, Clap hands, close hands..._" I finish. Gumi and the girl are smiling at me.

"Neru, you know _Close Hands, Open Hands_(1)?" Gumi asks me.

"Yeah, my Mom used to sing it to me all the time."

"Ryuuto-kun, Yuki-chan, how about you play it one more time?" The kids nod and both begin playing it on the piano. Gumi sings it with me too, this time.

_"Close hands, open hands..."_

* * *

Before I know it, twenty minutes have gone by and we've sung several children's songs'. I can't even remember why I was so angry before because I'm in such a relaxed, content mood. Ryuuto fell asleep on the floor a bit ago and Yuki is nodding off a bit, too. I feel like joining them in their slumber, but it's only until the bell rings that I realize I've been here for the entire lunch period.

"Oh fuck." Gumi looks at me incredulously and points to Ryuuto and Yuki, who've luckily fallen asleep and didn't hear me. "Sorry. But I have to go now or I'll be late. I'll text you later."

"Please don't."

"I'm still gonna."

* * *

The rest of the day goes by fast and everyone's getting their possessions out of their lockers for dismissal. I put in the combination, 32, 34, 44, easy enough for even me to remember, and it opens easily. I pull my book bag off of its' silver hook and don't bother putting my homework in it, since I have no intentions on completing it. Why do my teachers even bother giving this shit to me anyway? I haven't done it the first 56 days of the semester, and there's no way in hell i'm gonna start now.

I have my book bag slung over my left shoulder while I'm walking to the classroom and can't help but feel like people are watching me, which, like I said, makes me really uncomfortable. The minute I open the door my suspicions are confirmed. Literally everyone is looking at me. _Everyone_. The room falls silent, but you can still hear people whispering and gossiping. Every eye is on me as I walk to the seat and sit down. Why are they all staring at me? It's embarrassing.

_'Look away, Look away,'_ I say over and over again in my head, but they still don't. Even as I bury my head in my arms, I can still feel their piercing stares.

_'Look away, Look away,'_

"Neruuuuuuuu-chaaaaaaan!" I hear the screeching sound that is Rin who runs to my desk. I pull my head up and see my classmates turnig their heads away, returning to their own conversations, which makes me want to hug the little blonde for her interrupting the silence, but refrain because that would be even more embarrasing and stupid. I completely forgot that they were in my homeroom.

"What do you want?" I say more hostile than I mean to, but Rin doesn't seem to notice. Len walks in behind her.

"The fight! The fight! Are you really gonna do it?" She asks hurriedly. I blink, confused.

"Fight? What fight?" Rin stares at me in disbelief.

"Don't tell me you forgot!"

"I forgot."

"During lunch! You said that you were gonna fight Miku afterschool! Remember!"

"Fight with Miku after scho-_ohhhhhhh_..."

"Yeah."

"I said that?"

"Yes! It's what everyone's talking about!"

"Oh." I can't believe I was so _stupid!_ Why on earth did I say that?! I'm fucking insane! Why didn't I know that it would draw in so much attention?! Fuck! Shit! _Fucking shit!_

"You're not gonna do it though, right?" Len speaks up. This is the first time he's actually spoken a complete sentence to me. ...Am I going to do it? I know I can beat Miku, but that's just asking for trouble. But if I don't then I'm going to be the laughing stock of the school for chickening out. Fuck.

"Did I mention that Miku said she's going to kick your ass?" Rin mentions.

Oh hell no. That bitch is _dead_.

* * *

(1) The song is called _Musunde Hiraite, _or_ Close Hands, Open Hands._ If you really want to hear it, there are these three girls singing it here: /watch?v=LbPPljdKHRI

**AN: Waaa, cliffhanger, I'm sorry! At least it's an update though, right? I may or may not be able to update next week, because of the holidays. We'll just have to wait and see.**


	4. Two Unlucky Leaves

**AN: Wow, I am a _liarrrr_. I said that I'd try to update regularly and BAM! Gone for over 4 months. Also, Snowleopard14, what is it with your reviews? I mean, I just read them and it makes me feel bad and then I want to update again? Maybe it's because you threaten to hang me owo. This chapter is in third person, because I had trouble creating a dynamic fight scene through Neru's (or Len's) point of view. Sorry for the inconsistency. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid or any of the characters involved in this story. **

* * *

It's 5:54 PM, about 2 and a half hours after school had ended. Neru led the way to the school's yard with Haku, Rin, and Len behind her. Len had no intention in going, but Rin had insisted, and even though he would never admit it, he wanted to see the result of the fight, too.

"_Rin_!" Len whispered angrily in his twin sister's ear. "Why did you tell Neru all of that?"

"Why _wouldn't_ I?" Rin responded in a hushed tone. "She forgot, and I had to remind her."

"Not that. Miku never said she was going to kick her butt!"

"Pfffft. I said _'Miku said she's going to kick your **ass**'_, not butt."

"Yeah, well, I'm just not a fan of profanity."

"You're such a dork."

"Shut up, Rin."

"Oh, calm down. I only did that to build up tension, and I bet some kids 500 yen(1) that Neru would win, so she needs to fight her best. Besides, Len, you're a guy, why _wouldn't_ you wanna see two girls tear each others' clothes off?" Rin snickered. Len turned a dark shade of pink.

"I'm not into that stuff!" Len's whispering started to sound like quiet yelling. Haku glanced behind her and saw the twins arguing.

_'Haha, that's adorable...'_ She thought, but then turned her attention back to Neru, trying to convince her not to fight with Miku.

"Ru-chan, please don't do this! You could get in serious trouble!"

"It doesn't matter." Came a harsh, dark reply from Neru. She didn't even bother looking back at her, only stared into the direction of the yard that she was approaching.

"What about your mother? What if she finds out about this? She'll be very disappointed!"

"Haku, quit worrying about me, alright? I don't want my Mom to be upset with me, but if she finds out about it, I can't do anything about it. I'm tired of being treated like shit -no- _worse_ than shit from Miku just because she's rich and pretty and perfect! I'll fix her stuck up attitude, and school will be better, not just for me, but for all of the other kids she bullies! If you want me to turn around, you'll have to drag me by my ankles!" Neru shouted powerfully, her eyes narrowed at Haku who stopped in her tracks, shocked that Neru had felt so strongly about this. Haku was very thankful to Neru for saving her on that day when she nearly died in the forest(2), and felt that she owed Neru her life. She didn't want anything bad to ever happen to her.

The twins were also surprised when they heard about Neru's determination. They expected it to be just a quick fist fight, but it went much deeper than they would have ever thought. Rin suddenly felt guilty -a very rare occurence for the blond- for betting on the fight and lying to Neru. Len stared at the ground, not looking at her.

"O-okay, Ru-chan, I'll support you, j-just...just be very careful, okay?"

* * *

"Fufufufufu(3), Neru-chan, I didn't think that you'd show up. Oh, and I see that you've brought your friends. That's adorable!" Miku laughed as Neru arrived in the schoolyard. It wasn't anything special. It's just a flat, black concrete with six basketball hoops and crappy swingsets that no one uses. The only thing interesting about it is the 10-foot tall oak tree in the corner of the school yard that never, ever loses its leaves in the fall and winter. Some say it's cursed, and if you ever spot a leaf falling from the branches, bad luck awaits you. Neru wasn't a superstitious person, but she was definitely shaken when she saw two leaves drip down and land on the ground before her.

"Shut it, Miku. We came here to fight, not talk. Get on with it." Neru demanded angrily, but Miku just laughed and came closer. Eventually they were less that one foot apart.

"You know what I like about you, Neru? Your hair. Even though you don't brush or cut it, it's still beautiful. Even prettier than mine." She gently grabbed a lock of her blond hair, and combed through it. Neru didn't move a muscle, until Miku pulled out a pair of scissors from behind her back. "Mind if I have some?" With a swift lunge, she snipped off a great length of her side ponytail. Her hairband fell out, and as if in slow motion, Neru's yellow locks fluttered to her shoulders. Neru instinctively swung her arm forward, expecting to hear the cry of Miku, but instead was met with large hands gripped around her own fist. In front of her was a bulky man at least 7 feet tall, and she, being only a little over 4 feet, was towered by him. Her eyes widened as she realized what had happened. Miku brought guards.

"Neru!" Len shouted at the five feet he was distanced from the blond. He was going to run over to help her, but Haku held him back. "What are you doing? Neru needs help!"

"No." Haku answered calmly, which surprised him since she was just begging her not to fight.

"But Neru! She-"

"It's fine. Neru can handle it."

Judging from Neru's appearance, it was hard to imagine her handling a pack of guards on her own, but then Len remembered what Haku had said at lunch earlier that day.

_'The last time someone smacked Neru's phone, which was in 5th grade, a boy was put into the hospital for 2 years. And she never apologized.'_

_'I'll support you, j-just...just be very careful, okay?'_

Haku had said that because she didn't want Neru to hurt Miku too badly.

"Hey! I thought this would be a fair fight!" Neru growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh, simple, dimwitted, cute Neru, you can't ever be on top if you play fair." Neru answered with a lightning fast quick between the mans' legs, and he dropped to his knees, roaring in the pain that she'd caused him. Neru rushed towards and unsuspecting Miku, and grinned when she received a satisfying shriek as her tightly clenched fist popped her cousin in the cheek. Miku slowly drew her manicured hand to her face. She gasped at the purple bump of a bruise growing on her cheek.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!" Miku wailed in her rage. Furious eyes snapped to Neru, and she threw the pair of scissors at her, who dodged effortlessly by ducking her head.

"GET HER!" She screamed. "GRAB HER AND BREAK HER BONES!" Neru didn't know who Miku was ordering to do this until a pack of guards surged forward from behind the tree. Neru counted ten.

_'Ten guards? I can handle that.'_ She thought. Neru cracked her knuckles on both hands. They formed a circle around her and closed in. She whipped her elbows outwards, catching two of them in their noses, then jumped up in a split form, sending two more falling down. _'That's four. Six more to go.' _Miku's goon grabbed her arm, and another caught her on the wrist. Neru flicked her right leg up, bashing one of them in their forehead. She could see blood on the ground, which made her cringe. She hated the sight of blood, it brought back bad memories. Using her now free arm, she uppercutted the guard hold her wrist right under his jaw, causing him to crash backwards into another. Neru squatted down. With her hands on the dark pavement, she swiped her leg in a perfect circle, tripping the remaining three thugs. Their heads thumped hard onto the concrete.

Miku clenched her teeth tightly as the fight went on. She knew that her petty guards could not win against Neru. The whole situation was hopeless. The only goons she had left were the other three behind her, and if Neru had taken out ten, she could take out three more just as easily. Miku had lost.

_'Or have I...?'_ Miku thought sneakily as her eyes wandered to Len, Rin, and Haku standing five feet away from the action.

"Guards! Capture those three and bring them to the mansion!" She whispered hurriedly to her goons. "And make it quick!" They nodded.

Neru kicked the last of the ten in his head, and he layed there, unconscious. Grinning triumphantly, she stood before the ten guards she'd just defeated all on her own.

"So, Miku, now your opponent is-" Neru cut herself off. Miku wasn't there. _'That wimp...did she run off?'_

"Ru-chan!" She heard Haku exclaim. A guard was holding her by her waist and clamped a hand over her mouth. Rin was experiencing the same thing, but Len was putting up a good fight. Eventually, he got free, delivering a jab to the man in his nose, but too late to help Haku and Rin. A long, midnight black limousine strode into the school yard. A door opened, and the thugs that held Rin and Haku jumped in. Before completely driving out of the area, an envelope was tossed out of the window. Miku's silence shattering laughter was heard throughout the vicinity as she escaped, leaving behind the choking scent of her perfume.

* * *

(1) 500 yen is like 4.97 dollars in the US, or 63.76 peso in Mexico.

(2) See Chapter 1. I've changed Haku's story from what it first was when I published this story, and it's rather important, so please re-read it if you haven't already.

(3) Fufufufufu is like mischievous laughter in Japanese, I believe (at least that's what I've learned from manga)

**AN: WOOOO I FINISHED IT! I hope a long chapter makes up for the long hiatus. I've never written a fight scene before, so I don't know if it is very good or not, and he ending got rushed again, ahahahaha...This story is eventually going to get really deep and a bit violent, but that won't happen until later chapters. I completely changed the description for this story, because after writing this chapter, I've got a much better grasp on the plot. I can't give an exact date when the next update will be, because I've decided to go in a cycle of updating my 3 LenNeru stories. "Worth" is getting a new chapter next. My Language Arts teacher said that I needed to work on the depth and pace of my stories, so if you can give any constructive criticism, I'd be grateful!**


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